‘Right to work’ is no assault on unionization

December 29, 2012

As Michigan legislators were debating a "right to work" measure, since approved and signed into law, labor union officials proclaimed it was a dastardly assault on workers' rights to unionize.

It is no such thing. About half the states have laws similar to Michigan's new statute.

"Right to work" laws could be described accurately as freedom of choice guarantees. All they do is ensure that if a working man or woman does not want to join a union, he or she cannot be compelled to do so through a closed- or union-shop contract with an employer.

That's it. Unions still enjoy the same power to organize they did in the past, with the exception they cannot force anyone to join them and pay dues.

Many of the liberal politicians critical of the action in Michigan would describe themselves as "pro-choice" in a different context. Apparently that attitude does not extend to whether unions should be able to coerce workers.